Monday, April 8, 2013

Conference in Moldova

Hello Family! How
were the General Conference cinnamon rolls? I'm sure they were heavenly as
always! ;)

It seems like
everyone has asked me the same question about how we watch General Conference
here, so here's the answer.... We have a satellite system in our church
building that lets us watch the sessions live... Well, most of them... But
nonetheless, General Conference was amazing! I received a TON of answers, and
there seemed to be a lot of talks about missionaries. One quote in particular
has stuck in my mind... "Your name tag shouldn't just be on your jacket,
but in your heart." That's not quoted exactly, but you get the idea. Every
member really IS a missionary whether or not they're wearing a name tag. So
remember to have the name of Christ in your hearts always! We watched the
Saturday morning session at Brother Alto's (that included a steak/potato thanksgiving
feast), and it felt different being in a home watching it on a big screen tv,
instead of the third floor in the church watching it on a tiny tv. So while I
was there, I thought of all of you and the many memories I have watching
conference together as a family. How grateful I am to be raised in the gospel!
On Sunday, we watched the rebroadcasted priesthood session and Aba came. It was
great to see him there, but he left just before the prophet spoke... It was
frustrating (because we wanted to talk about it with him after), but I'm sure
he received some answers... as we all did!

"Destroy the
area book!" This was the goal I set for my district this week. No, we're
not literally destroying our area books, we're contacting as many potential and
former investigators as possible in one week. So on a rainy day, when
everything did not go the way we wanted it to (which happened to be the case
the entire week), we just decided to go back to our apartment and do area book
work. After 3 hours of calling and calling and calling, we found a handful of
former investigators that haven't been contacted by the missionaries for 3
years, and they wanted to meet up again. A mission is full of developing a
testimony of all kinds of things, and area book work was one that I have
started developing thanks to this experience. There were hidden treasures that
Elder Groberg and I found, and we're praying that these people that we
contacted have had a change of heart and want to continue their progression
towards baptism.

This week was full
of unnecessary stress.... I went on an exchange to Orhei on Wednesday, and when
I got back, Elder Groberg wanted to do Internet real quick, so we did, and
during that time, President Hill decided to call us and talk to Elder
Groberg.... "Something happened with one of the assistants and I would
like you to be my assistant until you go home." Let's just say, we were
both not happy about that news.... Basically he told him that he would probably
have to head back to Romania the next day, and that I would receive two new
Romanian-speaking companions.... The whole time I'm thinking, "Are you
kidding me?!" So we went back to our apartment that night so he could
start packing... To make a long story short, President called later and told
him that he'd be staying here, and that everything was figured out... Thank
goodness! That would've messed up a lot of things. So all is well now, and
we're still companions! Also, it was his birthday on Saturday, and Elder
Smith's (my trainer) on Wednesday, so happy birthday to them!

"A more
excellent sacrifice." Something every single missionary in Moldova was
asked to do Saturday night. There's a lot of repairing to be done here, and
this "more excellent sacrifice" is going to push us to do better in
every aspect of missionary work. I'm grateful to have inspiring leaders today
that help us know which direction to take and how to travel that path. Can you
imagine a bunch of missionaries attempting to do their work without any
leadership and guidance? I can't!

I KNOW this is
Christ's restored church here upon this earth. I KNOW that this message that I
share brings happiness into any persons' life if they let it. I KNOW that what
I'm doing is pleasing to my Heavenly Father, and I KNOW that good things are ahead
for the people of Moldova. I love you all and remember to re-read the
conference addresses as soon as you can! You'll be spiritually strengthened and
guided by them. Have a great week and I hope the weather there is better than
the weather here.